NEW LONDON, Conn. — Players of the Game Kamryn Kerr (Jr., East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) and Candace Scalise (So., Clarence, N.Y./Clarence) both posted hat-tricks and goalkeeper Lea Steen (So., Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) turned back seven scoring tries as Grove City College claimed a 14-4 victory over Wheaton College (Mass.) in the opening game of the 2024 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship hosted by Connecticut College at the Jane Cadwell Lott ’36 Natatorium.
Courtesy the victory, the Wolverines (4-13, 1-7 CWPA Division III) advance to a 7:00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific quarterfinal showdown this evening with defending CWPA Division III Champion/regular season champion/No. 5-nationally ranked Augustana College for a spot in the semifinal round on Saturday, April 20.
The 2010, 2011 and 2012 CWPA Division III Champion, Grove City wasted little time in pushing ahead of the Lyons (0-11, 0-8 CWPA Division III) as Shastyn Tihansky (Fr., Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) put in an icebreaker with 6:16 left in the first quarter to place the Wolverines in front to stay at 1-0. Tihansky struck again at the 4:40 mark to expand the lead to 2-0, but Wheaton – which is competing in the program’s inaugural season in the CWPA – whirled in a response at 4:25 as Josephine Basco (So., Painesvile, Ohio/Thomas W. Harvey) spun a ball into the twine at the 4:25 mark to move the Lyons within one at 2-1.
The remainder of the opening frame was the domain of Grove City, however, as Scalise (4:10) and Mikayla Zablocki (Jr., Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) (2:40) brought the curtain down on the first eight minutes of competition with consecutive strikes to stake the Wolverines to a 4-1 lead,
Following over three and a half minutes of back-and-forth competition in the second quarter, Scalise (4:22) delivered again for Grove City by lining in a shot to expand the margin to four at 5-1. Izabella Agraz (Jr., Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) snapped the Wolverines’ streak of scoring by burying a ball into the cage at 4:02, but Kerr (2:03), Carolyn Marks (Fr., Milford, Ohio/Milford) (1:44) and Riley McCullough (Jr., Spring, Texas/Oak Ridge) (57 seconds) deposited back-to-back-to-back tallies to finish out the second quarter and first half with Grove City holding an 8-2 lead on the scoreboard.
The margin ballooned to 10 goals by the conclusion of the third quarter as Kerr (4:41), Sam Logue (Jr., Hollister, Calif./San Benito) (4:06), McCullough (3:30) and Scalise (2:46) put away chances to widen the gap to 12-2.
Allie Taylor (Jr., Raleigh, N.C./North Raleigh Christian Academy) snapped Grove City’s 8-0 scoring run dating back to the 4:02 mark of the second quarter by lining in a shot with 7:41 left in the fourth quarter to move the Lyons within nine at 12-3. Agraz further chipped away at Wheaton’s deficit by registering her team-high second goal of the game with 5:25 on the clock prior to Kiley Sill (So., Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) and Kerr responding for the Wolverines as the duo scratched away for goals at 4:17 and 1:55, respectively, to establish the 14-4 final score.
Wheaton – which will next be in action at 11:30 a.m. Eastern/8:30 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, April 20, against the fallen from a first round match-up pitting the host Connecticut College Camels and the Washington & Jefferson College Presidents – was led by Agraz who accounted for two goals. Basco and Taylor both chipped in solo markers, while goalkeeper Amelia Brown (Fr., Acton, Mass./Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School) turned aside five shots.
Scalise (three), Kerr (three), McCullough (two) and Tihansky (two) posted multi-score games to account for 10 of Grove City’s strikes in the contest. Logue, Zablocki, Marks and Sill each chipped in single tallies to support Steen’s seven save performance guarding the posts.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Wheaton College |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | – | 4 |
| Grove City College | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | – | 14 |
| Grove City Goals: | Candace Scalise (3); Kamryn Kerr (3); Riley McCullough (2); Shastyn Tihansky (2); Sam Logue; Mikayla Zablocki; Carolyn Marks; Kiley Sill | |||||
| Wheaton Goals: | Izabella Agraz (2); Josephine Basco; Allie Taylor | |||||
| Saves: | Grove City – Lea Steen (7) ; Wheaton – Amelia Brown (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Grove City – 1 ; Wheaton – 1 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Grove City – 0-for-1 ; Wheaton – 0-for-1 | |||||
| Sprints: | Grove City – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) ; Wheaton – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Martin Murray, Alex High | |||||
Grove City College’s Katie Goodwill (#8) lobs a shot over Wheaton College’s Allie Taylor (#21)
Wheaton College’s Ava Biancheri (#5) scans the defense of Grove City College’s Mikayla Zablocki (#9) and Candace Scalise (#16)
Wheaton College’s Allie Taylor (#21) defends Grove City College’s Clarie Lochstet (#15)
